An Israeli exhibition celebrating antiquities which have been recovered from thieves has been robbed of artefacts including a silver ring once worn by Alexander the Great.

Organisers of the "Antiquities Theft in Israel" in Jerusalem could not have chosen a more fitting name for their exhibition.

On Wednesday burglars broke into the a museum in Ashdod where hundreds of artefacts recovered from the black market were on show and snatched several valuable items, including a silver ring belonging to Alexander the Great.

The newspaper Haaretz said the robbers also took ancient silver coins and other items from archaeological digs including a bronze spear, two gold earrings, some pottery and coins from the Hellenistic period.